Disconnected Systems, Wasted Hours

Every modern enterprise relies on an ecosystem of dozens of specialized apps—CRM platforms, lead gen tools, marketing automation solutions, and collaboration suites—and yet these systems rarely speak to one another without manual intervention. As a result, data and processes become fragmented across systems, forcing teams to waste countless hours on exports, imports, and error-prone handoffs.

Unsurprisingly, “automating workflows” has become a top-of-mind requirement for buyers, and seamless integration is its technical foundation. Yet most SaaS vendors stop at providing a handful of basic connectors, leaving customers to fend for themselves or turn to third-party platforms like Zapier and Make—and pay dearly in both dollars and complexity.

Why Third-Party Platforms Fall Short

Without native options, many organizations end up relying on platforms like Zapier or Make.com—not because they want to, but because they have no other choice. Setting up Zaps or automation scenarios requires deep expertise in data mapping, APIs, and conditional logic.

In practice, you need a seasoned “automation admin” to build and maintain these flows—the kind of headcount and knowledge most companies simply don’t have. Onboarding and maintaining workflows is daunting, and most customers are overwhelmed by these platforms.

Additionally, these automation platforms can become very expensive—especially when handling the data volumes typical of enterprise use cases. Yet their willingness to bear both the knowledge requirement and the high costs proves one thing conclusively: enterprises urgently need—and will pay for—automation.

Turn Integrations Into a Sales Advantage

Embedding native automation and integration capabilities directly into your app not only solves a major customer pain—it also unlocks a high-margin revenue stream. By managing your customers’ automation within your own app, you not only improve their experience—you also unlock three powerful business outcomes:

1. Win More Customers with Native Automation
   Automation and integration are now table stakes in every vendor evaluation. In demos and RFPs, buyers quickly rule out any solution that doesn’t “just work” with their existing tools. If your app lacks click-to-activate workflows, you lose deals. If it offers a built-in Automation Hub, you win more—and often larger—contracts.
2. Reduce Churn by Expanding Product Value
   Embedded automation drives deeper adoption and loyalty. Customers using three or more automated integrations churn at roughly half the rate of those who don’t. Once workflow-driven integrations are in place, your platform becomes tightly embedded in daily operations—turning it off simply isn’t an option.
3. Unlock Revenue from Your Customer Base
   Upselling automation to your existing customer base is one of the most reliable and scalable revenue levers available. A focused campaign—using email, in-app prompts, and direct outreach—can position workflow bundles, action-based add-ons, or upgrades to premium plans as a dedicated, billable item on your pricing plan. The result: fast, high-margin MRR growth.

Build a Revenue Engine with Native Automation

Embedding automation and integration features directly into your app unlocks entirely new revenue streams. Many SaaS pricing models already use integrations to differentiate value—Slack and Teams might be part of a Standard Plan, while Salesforce or HubSpot are reserved for higher tiers like Professional. A native Workflow Builder can also become a clear upgrade trigger—motivating customers to move to a Premium Plan. It’s clear: the more comprehensive your integration offering, the greater your upsell potential—especially when you actively help customers solve their automation challenges.

And it goes further. Platforms like Zapier quickly become expensive—especially when handling the volume of data most companies need. Their widespread adoption proves that customers are not just willing to pay for automation—they already do. So why let that revenue flow to third parties, when offering automation natively can have a direct and lasting impact on your bottom line?

Make Automation a Paid Add-On—Easily

There are many ways to turn automation into revenue. Instead of overhauling your entire pricing model, an automation add-on—with transparent pricing that covers all provided integrations—can accelerate your go-to-market and resonate with your customer base. With FlowMate, you can achieve this by launching your Automation Hub in just a few days—as a native feature, fully integrated into your app and aligned with your existing business model.

While pricing models differ across SaaS businesses, one thing is clear: automation demand is high, and most of it remains untapped. Offering an automation add-on package is easy to position, simple for your sales team to explain, and delivers immediate, measurable value to your customers. Whether it helps them move away from complex third-party platforms like Zapier or accelerates internal adoption, it pays off—for both sides.

Save Customers Money, Grow Your MRR

Take a simple example: offer an embedded Automation Hub as an add-on to your existing plans—priced at $29.95 for every 10,000 automation actions. It includes the most requested integrations your customers rely on and scales easily with their usage. If your average customer runs 50,000 actions per month, that’s $149.75 in additional monthly revenue—per account.

Now flip the perspective: what does this look like for your customer? On Zapier’s Team plan, running 50,000 tasks per month costs $598.50. In contrast, your native automation add-on at $149.75 saves them more than $448 every month—while you still earn high-margin revenue.

It’s a compelling offer—easy to adopt, fully embedded, and significantly more affordable than third-party tools. Even if you price your add-on higher—at $39.95 or $49.95 per 10,000 actions—it remains attractive to your customers and delivers strong recurring revenue for your business.

MRR Impact: A Real-World Example

Scale that across your customer base. If you have 1,000 customers, and just 50% adopt the automation add-on, you’re looking at 500 customers generating $149.75 each—resulting in $74,875 in new MRR. Here’s a simple overview to illustrate what’s possible.

It’s a massive opportunity. As shown, even modest adoption can lead to a substantial increase in monthly recurring revenue (MRR)—especially when scaled across your entire customer base. And that’s just the beginning—add in higher conversion rates, improved retention, and fresh upsell potential, and the impact grows even further.

What’s Your Cost with FlowMate?

What does it cost to deliver this automation package with FlowMate? It depends on your plan and total volume—but let’s take the SCALE plan as an example. With 25 native integrations included, your cost is around $0.40 per 1,000 actions.

For a customer running 50,000 actions per month, that’s just $20 in cost—compared to $149.75 in revenue. That’s roughly 15% cost and 85% margin. In other words, a highly profitable recurring-revenue stream built directly into your app.

Adapt the Model—Maximize Your Potential

Every business model is different, and this example may not match your exact setup—and that’s perfectly fine. The goal is to spark ideas and help you uncover the revenue potential automation holds for your product.

Curious how this could work in your case? I’d be happy to explore it with you. Just reach out via frank@flowmate.io or book a meeting—let’s talk about how automation can become a scalable growth engine for your business.

Unlock Revenue from Your Existing Customers

Imagine launching a focused sales campaign to monetize that automation potential: sales playbooks for your team, targeted outreach, and clear messaging that promotes workflow bundles, action-based add-ons, and premium plan upgrades to your entire customer base.

This isn’t about acquiring a few new logos. It’s about activating a major revenue stream from hundreds—or even thousands—of existing accounts. Especially in today’s challenging SaaS market, proactively offering automation features is one of the smartest ways to unlock growth and deepen customer loyalty.

And here’s the added benefit: customers running three or more automated flows churn at about half the rate of those who don’t. Every automation sale today makes your product that much harder to walk away from tomorrow.

Ready to capture the automation opportunity?

Want to see how fast you can turn customer pain into recurring revenue? Book a FlowMate demo today and bring native automation directly into your app.